On 23 March 2016, Minister Igor Crnadak received a visit from Italian Senator Ludovico Sonego, head of the Italian Delegation to the CEI Parliamentary Assembly. The meeting was also attended by CEI National Coordinator of BiH, Ambassador Milos Prica and by the Italian Ambassador to BiH, Ruggero Corrias. Minister Crnadak informed about the current political situation in BiH and foreign policy priorities. He stressed that BiH paid great attention to strengthening regional cooperation and informed about the priorities of the BiH CEI presidency 2016, as well as about planned activities and meetings.

While speaking about bilateral relations between BiH and Italy, Minister Crnadak pointed out that they were very good and friendly and that Italy’s support in the European path was crucial to BiH. He highlighted that the application for EU membership on 15 February was just the beginning of the great work lying ahead of BiH. Minister Crnadak added that it was essential, and that during the next few months progress ought to be made in order to get closer to obtaining candidacy status in 2017. Minister Crnadak underlined that BiH was determined to make use of the opportunity provided by the European road and informed about the activities regarding the implementation of the reform agenda, adjustments and the establishment of an effective coordination mechanism.

Minister Crnadak outlined the state of preparations of BiH for the event taking place in Trieste on 19 May, representing a synergy of the CEI and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in supporting the economic development of the region with the participation of Chinese partners. The same goes for the summit of Western Balkan countries in Paris in the framework of the Berlin process to be held in the middle of this year.

In brief

Founded in 1989, the CEI is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration through cooperation among its Member States.
It combines multilateral diplomacy and project management, both as donor and recipient, while bridging European macro-regions.